Landlord’s gas safety responsibilities
As a new landlord, you’ll be busy getting to grips with life in property maintenance and managing your portfolio. There are some things that you might want to do as a landlord and there are things that you have to do as a landlord. Gas safety is one of those ‘must-do’s’.
Landlords have a duty of care in law and this means ensuring that all gas appliances in a property have been checked for safety by a qualified engineer. So, what exactly are a landlord’s responsibilities?
A landlord must:
- Ensure gas appliances are installed safely and are checked by a Gas Safe registered professional.
- Ensure a Gas Safe registered engineer completes an annual safety check on the property. This must include all gas appliances and flue.
- Provide the tenant with a gas safety check certificate before they move into the property and within 28 days of annual checks.
When a property has gas appliances, there are 3 main legal responsibilities for the landlord:
- Organising the completion of the annual gas safety check
- Keeping records of these gas safety checks
- Carrying out maintenance of gas appliances, chimneys, flues and piping.
There are some additional things that a landlord can do to ensure the property and tenants are as gas safe as possible.
- Inform tenants where to go to turn off the gas and steps to take in the event of a gas emergency.
- Ensure that the engineer carrying out the annual check is always Gas Safe registered and fully qualified. This is a legal requirement.
- The gas safety check doesn’t automatically include any pipes used to connect a gas appliance to other pipework, however, it is advised that a landlord ask for this to be included in the check.
In terms of maintenance, a landlord should always refer to the manufacturer’s guidance about specific appliances. Certain appliances may require more than an annual check and the engineer can also advise you if this is the case. For advice on Boiler Repair Gloucester, go to HPR Services boiler repair
As well as gas, there are also fire safety regulations that landlords must adhere to. For example, a smoke alarm must be installed on every floor of the property and a carbon monoxide alarm installed in every room with a gas appliance. A landlord must also ensure no exits are blocked and that any furniture and furnishings provided are fire safe.
The same applies to electrical fittings. Sockets and light fittings, as well as any supplied electrical devices should have been tested and deemed safe for use.
For landlords with multiple properties, it can often be easier for a property management company to take on these matters. They have a wealth of experience of understanding the law and will have good contacts with reliable gas safe registered engineers in the area.
Tenants also have a responsibility to take care of the appliances in the property and to ensure that the landlord is informed of any repairs that need carrying out.
